Well, I m glad I m not the only one to have had this problem! that s a LOT of messages on this problem...

well, hello all.
Yes, My PC (running XP) did the same "freezing at mup.sys" thing..

so I simply tried safe mode, or last know good configuration, and nothing worked... nothing. I can't boot the machine from the HD at all.

so I popped in the recovery CD like some of you suggested here, and after pushing 'R' (for Repair) I was very surprised to see that the recovery console would not give me the option to repair C:\windows!
there was two options, and both of them were 'H:' . what happened to C: ???
very weird isn't it?
Luckily my second computer, and google, lead me here!
Should I simply transfer my important files into another hard drive and just reinstall the system? (I don't know how to do that, btw... but google will probably help again)..
or is there any other 'less destructive' solution?

thanks!

ps: for some unknown I-was-panicking stupid reason I typed fixboot c: (thinking this would make my thing boot magically probably) and now I also get the "NTLDR missing" error at booting on top of the first problem, GREAT.
but I intend to fix that with 'bcupdate2.exe' tomorrow morning when baby wakes up and I have access to the room.
running bcupdate2.exe might fix my newer (the second) problem... but I m pretty sure that my first 'freezes at mup.sys' problem will still occur..

help .....

NIce idea regarding the multi boot with win98, win2k and XP. However, in circumstances where multi OS's are installed with XP, it is XP manages the boot program. The reason the win98 will still boots is because it uses good old autoexec.bat and config.sys to boot and these are performed outside that boot program.

OK, following my crash (view it on page 29 also), update:

I removed the internal HD out of the tower and installed it in a HD case to be able to copy some files needed using another computer, before reinstalling windows on it.
when I plug the HD, windows explorer shows me the WEIRDEST thing about this HD. I see the first 6gb partition which was installed by HP for (destructive) recovery, and I see the other partition... but windows explorer tells me it s 10MB!!! absolutely no files on it! what happened?
If I "right-click/property" on that partition it tells me: capacity 10MB.. but if I right-click/format on it it it shows the capacity as being 142GB!
I tried a disk check and windows said that this HD is not a windows hard drive!!

I sooooooooo confused.... what can i do to explore this partition?

screen shot: http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l229/katoner/ScreenHunter_001.jpg

I can't believe the amount of problems w/ this subject. I too am experiencing a "mup.sys" hang up...it all started when I tried to download some stupid program for my daughters nokia cell phone. After two attempts using the nokia disk; I gave up deciding that it wasn't worth the effort. A while later, I rebooted the computer and when it came back up, my gf fx5200 wouldn't work. just a blank screen. If I plugged the monitor into the port that is attached to the motherboard, all was good. So I did a restore going back one day. Still didn't work. Went back 3 day's and still to no avail. I have a backup of all my drivers so I thought that if I just uninstalled the nVida driver, I could reinstall it and all would be good again. When i uninstalled nvida and rebooted, it restarted appearing normal- it goes to the windows xp logo and then the monitor blacks out. when i try going into safe mode, it stops at "mup.sys". to make matters worse, the computer is an emachine. the only disks i have are the "restore" disks that come w/ the computer. these disks when inserted into the cpu, will either restore my hard drive to it's original state (thereby losing everything and getting killed by very angry wife; as if this were all my fault...) or the second option is to go into DOS.
I've tried every method of getting into safe mode that i can think of. anyone w/ any thoughts? is there a way to download a driver from DOS?

Have you tried using a windows CD (98se or XP) to boot the machine? In your bios change the boot order so your CD is first. This will allow you to get into Windows Repair or the command prompt.

I have seen this before. this small partition is used to store diagnostic programs by the OEM. I use a program called partitionmagic to look around this. The smaller partition is the bios mirror. A replica of the contents of the bios. It does not have an NTFS or FAT file format so windows will give you an erroneous capacity. I would advise staying out of this partition.

Try FDISK from the command prompt to find more info but be careful!

Antec Smart Power 500
Asus P5WD2E-Premium
Pent D 3.0 Corsair XMS2 PC800
WD 200GB Sata 3.0 x 2
VGA GeForce 4 7900GT
Floppy / card reader (only floppy hooked up)

Built 5/06, XP SP1 load, SP2 update, all programs, utilites, etc. BSOD after about a couple weeks, couldn't fix, just reloaded everything and it worked again. Ran 5 months then started having bad lag, slow windows functions, games played fine. Sissandra didn't reveal any problems. Defrag, no change, defrag boot drive, no change, restore to before updates x 3, no help. Started having BSOD citing generic possible memory, possible video, etc.

Safes stopped at mup.sys, mult repeat, BSOD on last good config.

Attempt wipe and reload. Unplugged 2nd HD, used one RAM stick. XP sp1 disc wouldn't proceed. Flashed bios back to original (on CD), still wouldn't load install past Starting Windows Install. Tried every version of BIOS available.

Slipstreamed XP sp2 loads, installs, BSOD a few seconds after first splash, won't proceed.

Again tried several BIOS versions, swapped HD, swapped RAM sticks. Tried and tried. Set up a RAID, but install was unable to read disc after file transfers.

Tried about every trick on this thread, no USB, chkdsk, remove mup.sys, repair over install, remove battery, BIOS, BIOS, BIOS. Nothing. BSOD a few seconds after splash, can't install.

This is an expensive rig and I really don't want to scrap it.

Hope this helps....mine booted fine and the drive was seen every time by the bios but when it booted up to Win2k pro it froze at the same point.

Found and fixed my problem of freezing (at the same point...mup.sys).....It was a broken HD cable to the drive.....very small tear at the connector....only a couple of wires on the 8o wire cable connector were cut, so I replaced the cable and WAL-A!....IT WORKED BACK TO NORMAL.

GOOD LUCK ALL
Willy

Solution to: computer "pauses" for 35 seconds after mup.sys, just before keyboard lights blink (probably just before keyboard driver).

Clean system:
- New biostar m7ncd motherboard
- nForce2 chipset
- Nvidia GeForce 6600 OC
- 512 Kingston 333
- XP SP2 installed
- Zonelabs.
- Nvidia drivers
- no other software.

Removed the Nvidia IDE driver. (not necessary) --> Fixed. No more bootup stalling after mup.sys.

Thanks to whomever suggested it the first time. I've burned three days this week, (after 4 years of living with Soyo Dragon Plus! blue screens, which I had combined with of course trusty IBM deathstar drives, RMAs, lost data.). Suffice to say I hate computer engineers who cannot design robust equipment. My mobile phone doesn't blue screen.


J.

I am having this problem also (oh dear!)
I am able to boot my pc into normal mode, however with no search facility/access to user accounts etc..

I recently had a virus of some sort which I am hoping to have ridded my machine of now.

When booting into safe mode my pc begins to work and then stops on mup.sys

If it helps I have also lost any kind of connection to my house network, however I have internet access through the campus network

tah- Alex

Hi ! I hope someone has the solution to this problem, Not very technical so in plain english would be greatfully accepted...

WE have the Mup.sys problem on one of our pcs, we dont want to format it as it as a lot of family pictures etc on it...

What we dont have is a boot disc, it has gone missing, we can only get to the options of safe mode, last best known and start as normal... Whichever we press we get the mup.sys and it freezes...

WE can get into the bios page using F8 but dont know what to do there...

We really would appreciate any help, even if its not good news, just any info on how to resolve this problem asap...

Thankyou in advance all you techies out there.......hoepfully you know

Replaced ASUS MB with a new Gigabyte GA-965P-PS3 -same BSOD on Windows splash
Have changed the DDR2 RAM - BSOD on Windows splash
(The RAM works in another similarly configured machine)
Put in a working PCI video and took out the PCIE Geforce - same
(The card works in another similarly configured machine)
Took out SATA3 HD's, put in a working IDE HD - same
Used a different install disc - same
Flashed, and reflashed BIOS oldest and newest - same
Removed /replaced every device except Antec Power supply, case controls, IDE HD, PCI video, Pent D, Ram and MB - same

By my process of elimination, there is nothing else that it can be except power supply and processor. Any arguements?

Randy McVeigh said: Two questions: 1) Are you running WinXP? 2) Did you do a Repair Install of the OS after you replaced the mobo?

Reference the MS Knowledge Base article on the proper process to follow when installing a new mobo on a Win2K or WinXP machine: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125

If you did not follow this process before you swapped mobos, then you can follow the steps under "Replace a failed motherboard". Your existing applications and data will be preserved.

Jim

I did a clean install of WinXP Home SP2 (slipstreamed). I have not been trying to preserve anything since it started to blue screen.

My first step was to format and reinstall on the old system. It started BSOD at first Windows splash after file transfers. A couple of times it has gotten into the setup, but always crashed again at about the point where it asks you about how your display looks. I don't get the impression that it is necessarily related to the video card / drivers, because it still doesn't complete a clean install with the PCIE card removed using an older ATI PCI video card.

I wonder if I might have a bad windows slipstream? Early on, I had flashed the bios and I used another working copy of XP home which loaded to the product ID. I thought I had it fixed, so I wiped and reloaded with my slipsteam again with the same result. Maybe I should go back with the 2nd copy again and see if it loads. If so, I guess I need a new install disc.

I have tested all my other hardware in a functional machine (RAM, video, DVD, Sata3 HDs) and they all seem to be working normally. I don't have a spare compatible processor or a spare power supply with enough 12v rails to run the new boards to check these parts. There have been some posts about power supply. Does this really seem feasible? When I check my voltages with the bios monitors, there doesn't appear to be any problem. I would think if I had a bad processor, it would fail somewhere else in the boot.

I ordered some additional parts. When I am done, I will have a new MB, RAM, Proc, power supply. All I need is a HD, a case and video and I will have a new computer.

Anybody need a nice rig? If you can solve this problem one might be available at a reasonable price.

How did you build your slipstream? Did you start with a "Genuine MS Windows" disc, or did you use a third-party-branded disc (like those that ship with Dell machines and have a Dell logo on them)? If you used a non-MS disc as your base (or an installed instance of Windows on a hard drive), then you *might* have a version that either is pre-configured for a specific hardware config that's different than yours, or you might not have the necessary drivers to work with your system.

If you started with an actual MS disc, and you did the slipstream correctly, you should have no problem. Still, if you have an actual MS disc, it's worth trying to install from that to see if you get better results.

If even a genuine MS disc fails to successfully install, then I would not rule out the power supply unit. PSU failures can manifest themselves in completely non-intuitive ways. Example: I had a rig that began to spontaneously reboot periodically (like once every 10-20 days). One day, it failed to boot, giving the "mup.sys" signature in Safe Mode. Eventually, I figured out that if I unplugged my two oldest hard disk drives, it would boot fine, but if either of those drives were powered (even if no IDE cable was connected), then the PC would not boot.

A new PSU solved the problem.

Good luck,
Jim

My hard drive failed after doing a clean install of XP (right after downloading hours worth of updates no less). I put a new hard drive in and I have no trouble with BIOS recognition, or format or partitioning. When windows begings installing files, it just locks up. The CD light goes out and I get no error message. The lock up happens in the first few files. Anyone with an idea?

Greetings to fellow sufferers,

I recently had a problem with an XP pro CD copy that would not read properly on a crashed system (mup.sys hangup) so I could not do a repair install. I tried the original (SP 1a) with the same result, but when I looked carefully at the CD surface it was scratched!
I tried another copy (from a CD used to install XP pro on another PC) ans the install worked fine.

If you slipstream a CD, make sure the original is OK. You can try making a copy and VERIFYING it to prove it's a good copy (and a good original). If this doesn't work, any slipstreamed copy is likely to fail to load.

Nick Law

J Stew said:
Well, a couple, but you may have already tried them.

First, have you checked jumper settings (on both the HDD and CD reader)? I'd recommend always using the "cable select" setting these days, which is most likely how your hard drive was pre-configured.

Next, have you swapped out the IDE cable (or SATA cable, if it's a SATA drive)?
I have had numerous problems with IDE and SATA cables. If you bought a new drive, it should have come with a new cable. Try swapping it out and see if that helps.

Finally, have you tried changing which bus your new HDD is connected to? I don't know what other drives you might have in your machine, but during Windows install, you only need two: The CD reader, and the HDD you're installing Windows on. Disconnect any other IDE or SATA drives you have in your box. If you're using IDE drives, put the CD drive in the Master position (the black connector at the end of the IDE cable) on one channel (either Primary or Secondary, it doesn't matter), and put the HDD in the Master position on the other channel (either Secondary or Primary, whichever one you didn't use for your CD drive).

If you're already set up with one drive on each bus like I just described, then swap them so their on opposite buses.

You may need to go into the BIOS and adjust your boot sequence when you make these changes.

Rationale: Putting the drives on separate channels avoids the device handshaking that needs to occur when two devices are trying to share a bus. If your IDE controller is well-designed, you should get optimal performance in this config. And if there's some sort of flaky timing or communications issue between devices trying to share a bus, this might work around it.

Good luck,
Jim

i have the same problem on two machines but with very different symptyms. the first machine will continually go through the reboot sequence, occasionally it will boot into windows but crashes after a minute or so then goes back to the reboot cycle. also the clock resets itself back to 2002. the motherboard battery is showing 3.5v so i think that's fine. i think my next step with this one is to reset the CMOS and try to write a new MBR.

the other pc will go through 2 or 3 reboot cycles only on the first boot of the day, once running it will reboot consistantly into windows xp with no issues, it's just the first boot that causes the problem. after leaving it overnight it goes back to the reboot cycle. i tried changing the ACPI setting in BIOS to disabled and the machine would then do the reboot cycle over and over, resetting back to enabled allowed it to boot straight away.

as others have commented it seems like mup.sys being the last file loaded seems to be more of a symptym that something is wrong rather than the root cause. i'm not sure what tack to take with this machine as the problem is intermittent. i think my first step is to remove all the unnecessary boards and peripherals and see what happens. it's just difficult because it only manifests itself after a long shutdown

Dave McCue said: If your machine gets past POST and starts displaying the Windows logo screen, then there is nothing wrong with the MBR. I would not recommend messing with the MBR; that's a candidate only if your machine cannot figure out how to even begin loading the OS off the HDD.

What others have actually said is that mup.sys is NOT a root cause, no "seems like" about it.

How old is the motherboard in these two machines? Are they, by any chance, the same motherboard models?

Several years ago, there was a huge batch of bad capacitors that got into a lot of consumer electronics power regulation circuitry (they're used in power supplies and power regulation circuitry). I had two DVD players and a motherboard all die from failures of these bad caps, and the initial symptoms were erratic behavior (reboots, lockups, shutdowns) until the power supplies warmed up for a while. (Eventually, they stopped working altogether, but one DVD player "lived" like this for over a year and a half.)

If you can open your case and get access to the mobo, closely inspect the large capacitors on the board. Specifically, you're looking for the cylindrical "towers" that are roughly the size of a pencil or larger in diameter, and anywhere from a half inch to over an inch tall. Good capacitors will be intact, with flat tops and bottoms. Failing or failed capacitors may have a bulging, domed top (from high internal pressure), and/or evidence of brownish or reddish leakage from the top or the bottom.

If you see any bulging or leaking capacitors, you have probably found your problem.

If you don't find any capacitor problems, my next guess would be a power supply issue. Your machines' symptoms of spontaneously rebooting and/or giving trouble when they're cold, but behaving themselves once they warm up, are classic symptoms of capacitor/power supply trouble.

Good luck,
Jim